Cold weather vented garment

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to breathable, vented, and insulating cold weather garments. More particularly, the present invention relates to garments with chambers to retain an insulating fill material. Perforations along the seams between the insulating chambers may achieve optimal evaporative moisture transfer from the inside (proximal to the body of a wearer) of the garment to the outside environment.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application, entitled “Cold Weather Vented Garment,” is aContinuation Application of pending U.S. application Ser. No.15/140,214, filed Apr. 27, 2016, entitled “Cold Weather Vented Garment,”which, in turn, is a Continuation Application of U.S. application Ser.No. 13/449,783, filed Apr. 18, 2012, entitled “Cold Weather VentedGarment,” which is now U.S. Pat. No. 9,392,825, issued Jul. 19, 2016.These are incorporated by reference in their entireties herein.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not applicable.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to cold weather insulation garments. Moreparticularly, the present invention relates to breathable insulatingcold weather garments suitable for short term vigorous aerobic activitysuch as for example a run, a bike ride, a short hike around theneighborhood, etc.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

With the desire to stay active year round, there is a need forbreathable insulating garments for use during physical activity in thecold weather months. Conventional cold weather garments may not allowfor moisture from perspiration to escape from the inside of the garment.The trapping of moisture from perspiration may be particularlyproblematic for garments constructed from inherently water resistantfabrics. Often, garments with fill material such as down or fibers areconstructed of textiles that are resistant to the fill materialpenetrating the textile, either partially or entirely. Such fill prooftextiles may be created using treatments such as a durable waterrepellant (DWR) or by weaving or knitting a textile of sufficient weightto retain the fill material. These approaches often render the textilewater resistant, however. Therefore, these garments may trap moistureinside of the garments, which may then lead to discomfort for thewearer, and eventually may become counterproductive as cold weatherinsulating garments.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to a cold weather garmentcapable of providing insulation and breathability, thereby overcomingthe problem of moisture release from the inside of a cold weathergarment in conventional garments. The cold weather vented garment inaccordance with the present invention may be especially important, forexample, to a wearer undergoing short-term physical exertion, such asaerobic activities like running, biking, hiking, other exercise, and/orphysical labor. When a person exerts physically, the normalphysiological response is to cool down the body by releasing moisturefrom the body in the form of perspiration. This physiological responsestill occurs in cold weather, especially when a person wears heatinsulating garments. Therefore, one of the objects of the presentinvention is to provide a cold weather insulating garment that mayprotect a wearer from extreme, external environmental conditions whilestill allowing for moisture from perspiration to escape to the outerenvironment.

Conventional cold weather garments and cold weather garments inaccordance with the present invention may be constructed using fabricstreated with down proofing chemical treatments, and/or water repellantsthat may also act as down proofing treatments, such chemical treatmentsreferred to as DWR (durable water repellant.) Although DWR is awaterproofing chemical treatment, in addition to waterproofing thefabric, it is also very useful for down proofing fabrics, especiallylight and ultra-light weight fabrics. For example, fabrics that mayparticularly benefit from DWR treatment for down proofing are lightfabrics (89 g/m²-30 g/m²), and ultra-light fabrics (29 g/m² or lighter).Down can have very sharp shafts that can poke holes through light weightfabrics, making them more susceptible to tearing or down loss over time.Other types of fill material such as polyester fibers may lack the sharpshafts of down but are still challenging to contain with a light weighttextile. Heavier fabrics, such as fabrics with weights in the range of90 g/m²-149 g/m², or even 150 g/m²-250 g/m² or higher may be inherentlymore resistant to down and may or may not need a down proofing treatmentdepending on the specific type of fabric/textile, but such fabrics maybe used in garments in accordance with the present invention. Lighterweight fabrics may be more desirable in the manufacture of insulationgarments in order to keep the garments reasonably light weight,especially in the manufacture of athletic and/or high aerobic activityinsulating garments.

The insulating garment in accordance with the present invention may bemanufactured from a light weight fabric and may comprise a number ofinsulating, down or synthetic fiber filled chambers, separated by seams.Seams separating chambers may be spaced at varying intervals and mayhave any orientation and/or shape. The seams may be formed by activelyadhering two layers of fabric together with a suitable adhesive tapematerial, by stitching two layers of fabric together, or both using theadhesive tape and stitching. In the case of certain fabrics, a tape maynot be needed if the fabrics can be bonded without the use of tape.After the seams are formed, the seams may then be perforated with alaser cutter, an ultrasonic cutting wheel. Given the right equipment,the bonding and perforating steps may be performed simultaneously, forexample by using a welding and cutting wheel. The plurality ofperforations are located on the seams and are cut through the seams. Theplurality of perforations may be of different shapes and sizes and maycreate different patterns. The plurality of perforations may becontinuous along the seams, or may be intermittently placed along theseams, or alternatively, the plurality perforations may be placedstrategically only on the seams that are located close to areas whereperspiration may be particularly high, such as along the back of awearer or under the arms of a wearer. The size and frequency of theplurality of perforations may be optimized to allow a desired level ofventilation, while still maintaining heat insulation close to the bodyof the wearer.

In one example of the garment in accordance with the present invention,the garment may be a standalone garment. The garment may be in the formof a vest covering a person's body core area, a jacket with sleeves, atotal body suit, etc., when in an as-worn configuration.

Alternatively, the garment in accordance with the present invention maybe used as a removable inner insulating layer having an outer shellwhich may or may not be weather proof. This inner insulating layer mayalso be worn as a standalone garment when detached from the outer shell.Like in the previous example, the removable inner insulating layer maybe presented as a vest, a jacket, a body suit, etc., depending on thetype of garment and protection desired. For example, if the outer shellis a long sleeved jacket, the insulating layer may be presented as avest, a jacket, or a jacket with removable sleeves to convert into avest, depending on the amount of insulation desired. The insulatinglayer may be fastened to the outer shell by a zipper mechanism, buttons,hook and loop fasteners, or any other fastening mechanism available inthe market, and/or any combination of fastening mechanisms available.

Further, the garment in accordance with the present invention may beengineered into an outer shell. In other words, instead of beingremovable, an insulating and breathable garment in accordance with thepresent invention may be permanently attached to the outer shell. Thismay be achieved by stitching the outer shell to the inner insulating andbreathable layer at garment forming seams, meaning the seams located atthe top of the shoulders, and/or the side seams running from under thearm socket of a wearer along the length of the garment to the bottom endof the garment. Alternatively, an insulating and breathable layer may beintegrated into an outer shell layer by forming the shell from the sametextile as one or both of the textiles that form the chambers, byknitting or weaving the shell to the inner layer, using adhesive, etc.

Additional objects, advantages, and novel features of the invention willbe set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part willbecome apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of thefollowing, or may be learned by practice of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING

The present invention is described in detail below with reference to theattached drawing figures, wherein:

FIGS. 1A and 1B are a front and back view, respectively, of an exemplarycold weather vented garment in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2A is a close up view of a section of a venting seam from the coldweather vented garment in FIG. 1A;

FIG. 2B is a close up view of a section of a different example of aventing seam from a cold weather garment in accordance with the presentinvention;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a small section of the cold weathervented garment in FIG. 1, where the insulating chambers are shown inrelation to the perforated seams;

FIG. 4 is a view of a different exemplary cold weather vented garment inaccordance with the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a close up view of a section of a venting seam from the coldweather vented garment in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a small section of the cold weathervented garment in FIG. 4, where the insulating chambers are shown inrelation to the perforated seams; and

FIGS. 7A and 7B depict front and back view of an additional exemplarycold weather vented garment in accordance with the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIGS. 1A and 1B are a front view 140 and a back view 150 of a ventedcold weather garment 100 in accordance with the present invention. Thevented cold weather garment 100 in FIGS. 1A and 1B may be made fromconventional synthetic or natural fabrics. The fabrics may be waterrepellent and fill proof, or alternatively such as in the case of lightfabrics, they may need to be treated with waterproofing and downproofing chemicals such as for example, the chemical treatments referredto as DWR (durable water repellent). Since cold weather garments may bedown or synthetic thermal fiber filled, an upside of these treatments,is that they prevent the fill from poking through the fabric and, theyprevent water moisture from the environment from entering inside of thegarment. A downside of these chemical treatments on fabrics, is thatthese treatments may create a barrier preventing moisture generated fromperspiration to evaporate when the vented cold weather garment is in anas-worn configuration.

The vented cold weather garment in FIGS. 1A and 1B may be constructed bycutting out a first inner panel and a corresponding second outer panel,for each section of the garment, from a fabric piece(s) (not shown). Anadhesive tape suitable for the particular type of fabric may be placedon the inner face of one of the panels along predetermined sections ofthe panel to form chambers with the desired shape. Once the adhesivetape is set in place, the second panel may be aligned on top of thepanel with the adhesive tape with its inner face facing the tape. Then,the two panels may be pressed together with sufficient force and/orenergy applied, to activate the adhesive tape to create a bond(s)between the two panels. The adhesive tape may be activated by heat, orultrasonic energy, or any other type of applied energy. Once the fabricsare bonded, seams 120 with chambers 130 in between each adhesive tapedregion are created. The seams 120 may be spaced apart along the lengthof the garment (as shown), or seams 120 may be spaced apart lengthwise,perpendicular to the length of the garment, along the width of thegarment (not shown). The spacing of seams 120 may vary, as may therelative orientation of the seams and/or the shape of the seams,enabling chambers 130 to be different shapes and/or sizes. The chambers130 may then be filled with down, or synthetic insulating fabrics.Depending on the size and/or shape of the chambers formed, the chambersmay be filled with down or thermal insulating fibers, either manually ormechanically. Further, manual filling may be the preferred method if thechambers 130 are relatively small or irregularly shaped. Seams 120 maybe perforated during bonding, after bonding, and/or after filling thechambers. Perforations 110 may be formed using a laser, an ultrasoniccutter, and/or a mechanical cutter. The plurality of perforations 110may provide ventilation and moisture management by allowing moisturevapor from perspiration to escape to the outer environment. Provided theproper equipment, the seams 120 may be simultaneously formed andperforated in a single step, although the seams and perforations may beformed in separate steps without departing from the scope of the presentinvention.

In a different example of the garment in accordance with the presentinvention, depending on the fabric material used, the seams 120 may becreated without the use of an adhesive tape. For example if the fabricalready has adhesive properties, or is weldable by heat, pressure, orultrasonic energy, the seams 120 may be created and perforated withoutthe use of adhesive tape.

FIG. 2A is a close up of a seam 120. The seams 120 formed as describedabove, may be presented in a straight line (as shown), in a curved line,in a wavy line, or any other shape that may be useful, for example informing a chamber, and being visually appealing at the same time. Theseams 120 may be mechanically perforated by using a welding and cuttingwheel assembly, or may be perforated with a laser, an ultrasonic cutter,and/or a mechanical cutter to form the plurality of perforations 110.The plurality of perforations 110 may be of the same size, or differentsizes (as shown). The plurality of perforations maybe of differentshapes such as circular (as shown), triangular, rectangular, or anyother shape desired. The plurality of perforations 110 may be evenlyspaced in a straight line, curvy line, zig-zag, or any other suitableshape for placing the plurality of perforations 110 on seams 120, wherethe plurality of perforations 110 extend through the seams 120.Additionally, depending on the size of the individual perforations,there may be multiple rows of perforations on each seam. The pluralityof perforations 110 may be presented continuously along the seams 120(as shown), or may be presented intermittently along seams 120, or maybe strategically placed only in the areas of high perspiration such asalong the back of a wearer, under the arms of a wearer, between the legsof a wearer, etc. The size and frequency of the individual perforations110 may be determined to provide optimal ventilation and breathability,while still maintaining the structural integrity of the fabric, andmaintaining a high level of thermal insulation. For example, the widthsize of each individual perforation in the plurality of perforations 110may range anywhere from 0.1 mm-5 mm, and the spacing between eachindividual perforation measured from edge to edge, may range anywherefrom 0.5 mm-10 mm. Other sizes and/or spacing of perforations may beused without departing from the scope of the present invention.

FIG. 2B is a close up of a seam 220. The seams 220 formed as describedabove, may be presented in a straight line (as shown), in a curved line,in a wavy line, or any other shape that may be useful, for example informing a chamber, and being visually appealing at the same time. Theseams 220 may be mechanically perforated by using a welding and cuttingwheel assembly, may be perforated with a laser, an ultrasonic cutter,and/or a mechanical cutter, or may be perforated in any other way toform the plurality of perforations 210. The plurality of perforations210 may be of the same size (as shown), or different sizes. Theplurality of perforations maybe of different shapes such as circular (asshown), triangular, rectangular, or any other shape desired. Theplurality of perforations 210 may be evenly spaced in a straight line,curvy line, zig-zag, or any other suitable shape for placing theplurality of perforations 210 on seams 220, where the plurality ofperforations 210 extend through the seams 220. Additionally, dependingon the size of the individual perforations, there may be multiple rowsof perforations on each seam. For example, as seen in FIG. 2B, there maybe three rows of perforations 210, wherein the perforations 210 of themiddle row may or may not be offset from the perforations of the firstand third rows. In the case where the perforations 210 of the middle roware offset (as shown), the offset distance may range anywhere from 0mm-10 mm, or any other distance suitable for the performance and designdesired in the final product. While in the present example, only themiddle row is offset, all or none of the rows may be offset or, if morerows of perforations are present, different rows may be chosen to beoffset. The plurality of perforations 210 may be presented continuouslyalong the seams 220 (as shown), or may be presented intermittently alongseams 220, or may be strategically placed only in the areas of highperspiration such as along the back of a wearer, under the arms of awearer, between the legs of a wearer, etc. The size and frequency of theindividual perforations 210 may be determined to provide a desired levelof ventilation and breathability, while still maintaining the structuralintegrity of the fabric and maintaining a desired level of thermalinsulation. For example, a desired amount of ventilation, breathability,structural integrity, and thermal insulation may be achieved in agarment using light fabric/textile and down fill with a width size ofeach individual perforation in the plurality of perforations 210 ranginganywhere from 0.1 mm-5 mm, and the spacing between each individualperforation measured from edge to edge ranging anywhere from 0.5 mm-10mm, although other sizes and configurations are within the scope of thepresent invention.

One way of measuring the amount of breathability of a garment, such asgarments in accordance with the present invention, may be by performinga hot-plate transfer test, which allows for measurement of theresistance to evaporative transfer of a textile or garment. The lowerthe resistance number obtained from the test, the less resistance toevaporation there is and therefore, the more evaporation that occursthrough the garment in a given amount of time. Garments in accordancewith the present invention may be shown to have lower resistance toevaporative transfer than un-perforated garments in hot-plate transfertesting.

The garment construction may become more apparent in reference to FIG.3, where an angled cross-sectional view 300 of a small section of thegarment with all the novel features, is shown. The garment in accordancewith the present invention may be constructed from a first inner panel310 and a second outer panel 320. The seams 120 and chambers 130 may becreated as described above in reference to FIGS. 1A and 1B, where thechambers 130 are created between pairs of seams 120 between the firstinner panel 310 and the first outer panel 320. The plurality ofperforations 110 extend through the first inner panel 310 and the secondouter panel 320 to provide ventilation and moisture management byallowing moisture vapor from perspiration to escape to the outerenvironment when the vented cold weather garment is in an as-wornconfiguration. The chambers 130 may then be filled with a fill 330, suchas down or synthetic fibers.

Now, in reference to FIG. 4, a front view of a different cold weathergarment 400 in accordance with the present invention is provided. Likethe cold weather garment 100 of FIGS. 1A and 1B, the vented cold weathergarment 100 in FIG. 4 may be made from conventional synthetic or naturalfabrics. The fabrics may be water repellent and down proof, oralternatively such as in the case of ultra-light fabrics (29 g/m² orlower) and light weight fabrics (89 g/m²-30 g/m²), the fabrics may needto be treated with waterproofing and down proofing chemicals such as forexample, the chemical treatments referred to as DWR (durable waterrepellent).

The cold weather garment in FIG. 4 may be constructed in a fashionsimilar to that described above with regard to the garment shown inFIGS. 1A and 1B to form seams 420 to create chambers to hold fillmaterial, with a plurality of perforations 410 formed in seams 420. Theseams 420 may be further reinforced by adding stitching 470 along theirupper edge/boundary 510 and/or lower edge/boundary 520, as can be seenin the close up view of FIG. 5.

Stitching 470 may be applied mechanically and/or by hand, and may useany type of thread, whether natural or synthetic. Stitching 470 may beapplied before or after applying pressure and/or energy to form seams420. Likewise, stitching 470 may be applied before or after perforations410 and/or before or after chambers 430 are filled.

The garment construction may become more apparent in reference to FIG.6, where an angled cross-sectional view 600 of a small section of thegarment with all the novel features, is shown. The garment in accordancewith the present invention may be constructed from a first inner panel620 and a second outer panel 610. The seams 420 and chambers 430 may becreated as described above in reference to FIG. 4. The chambers may thenbe filled with fill 630, such as down or synthetic fibers.

Alternatively, in a further different example of the garment inaccordance with the present invention, the seams 420 may be produced byomitting the adhesive tape layer altogether. In other words, the seams420 may be created simply by stitching 470 along the upper seam boundary510 and lower seam boundary 520. The plurality of perforations 410 maythen be placed in between the stitched boundaries. This example may bepictured better in reference to FIG. 5.

The insulating chambers in the garments in accordance with the presentinvention may be formed by welding separate pieces of fabric at eachseam, or as discussed earlier, may be formed by pressing two wholepanels with adhesive tape in strategic places in between the two panels.If the chambers were formed by welding separate pieces of fabric at eachseam, this would allow for the introduction of different textures,colors, or functionalities by introducing different types of fabrics atdifferent sections of the garment.

Further, the vented cold weather insulating garment examples shown inthe examples of FIGS. 1A, 1B, and FIG. 4 are vented cold weather jacketsor coats. However, the insulating vented garments in accordance with thepresent invention may also be constructed in the form of vests, pants,overalls, gloves, hats, etc. FIGS. 7A and 7B depict an example vest 700in accordance with the present invention, with FIG. 7A depicting a frontview 740 and FIG. 7B depicting a back view 750 of the exemplary vest700. As seen in FIGS. 7A and 7B, the vest 700 may have seams 720 with aplurality of perforations 710, forming thermally insulating chambers740, which may be filled with down, or any other thermally insulatingmaterial, such as polyester fibers. The vest 700 may or may not havestitches along the edges of seams 720 for reinforcement of the seams.The vest 700 may be used as a light weight breathable thermal insulationgarment, for example by a runner.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that this invention is one welladapted to attain all the ends and objects hereinabove set forthtogether with other advantages which are obvious and which are inherentto the structure.

It will be understood that certain features and subcombinations are ofutility and may be employed without reference to other features andsubcombinations. This is contemplated by and is within the scope of theclaims.

Since many possible embodiments may be made of the invention withoutdeparting from the scope thereof, it is to be understood that all matterherein set forth or shown in the accompanying drawings is to beinterpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A garment comprising: a garment formingpanel adapted to cover an upper body portion of a wearer when thegarment is in an as-worn configuration; wherein the garment formingpanel comprises: (1) an inner layer configured to face the wearer whenthe garment is in the as-worn configuration; (2) an outer layerconfigured to be exposed to an external environment when the garment isin the as-worn configuration; (3) one or more seams that join the innerlayer and the outer layer, wherein each seam of the one or more seams isdefined by a first edge and a second edge; (4) at least one chamberformed between the inner layer and the outer layer that holds andcontains a thermally insulating fill material, wherein the thermallyinsulating fill material comprises at least one of down and a syntheticfiber; and (5) at least one perforation located between the first edgeand the second edge of at least one seam of the one or more seams,wherein the at least one perforation extends through the at least oneseam of the one or more seams, through the inner layer, and through theouter layer.
 2. The garment of claim 1, wherein the one or more seamsthat join the inner layer and the outer layer are formed by one ofbonding using an adhesive, stitching, or bonding using an adhesive andstitching.
 3. The garment of claim 1, wherein the inner layer comprisesa textile material that weighs 89 g/m² or less.
 4. A garment comprising:a garment forming panel adapted to cover an upper body portion of awearer when the garment is in an as-worn configuration, wherein thegarment forming panel comprises: (1) an inner layer configured to facethe wearer when the garment is in the as-worn configuration; (2) anouter layer configured to be exposed to an external environment when thegarment is in the as-worn configuration, wherein the inner layer and theouter layer are joined together by at least one seam, wherein the atleast one seam is defined by a first edge and a second edge, and whereinthe inner layer and the outer layer are continuously joined to eachother between the first edge and the second edge of the at least oneseam; (3) at least one chamber formed between the inner layer and theouter layer that holds and contains a thermally insulating fillmaterial, wherein the thermally insulating fill material comprises atleast one of down and a synthetic fiber; and (4) at least oneperforation located between the first edge and the second edge of the atleast one seam, wherein the at least one perforation extends through theat least one seam, through the inner layer, and through the outer layer.